In a striking contrast to his “friendly” handshake with Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez just a few hours ago, United States President Donald Trump once again turned his attention to Spain, this time with a warning.
Speaking in Washington during a bilateral meeting with Argentine President Javier Milei, Trump threatened to impose new tariffs on Spain for refusing to meet NATO’s recently established 5% defense spending target.
“I’m very disappointed with Spain. They’re the only country that didn’t increase their membership to 5% in NATO,” he said, adding that he was “thinking about punishing them commercially” and “perhaps” would move forward with such measures.
Trump’s comments come as the Spanish Economy Minister travels to Washington to attend events tied to the IMF and World Bank’s fall meetings. The timing adds diplomatic tension to what was meant to be an economic mission focused on stability and growth.
During the latest NATO summit, Sánchez was the only European leader to reject the new 5% GDP target championed by Trump, instead reaffirming Spain’s commitment to raise its defense spending only to 2.1%.
According to Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, this figure would be enough to meet NATO’s military capability objectives, and Secretary General Mark Rutte had granted Spain “flexibility” on the matter.
Trump, however, made it clear he sees the decision as “very unfair” to the alliance. “Spain gets protection, and they know it. Even if you don’t want to protect them, you’re doing it anyway because of their location,” he said.